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This is another photo of the gorgeous shrub American Beautyberry, also called French Mulberry. It’s hard to believe that I took this shot only a couple of weeks ago, because the color is really astounding for late autumn in Northern Illinois.

Do you like my blog? If so, please go to Cool Photoblogs and give me a thumbs up!

12.02.09 #2

I admit. I can be such a bokeh whore. I’m not ashamed of it.  Bokeh can be so, so awesome. The new lens gives me bokeh satisfaction, too. I had never experienced taking a photo with so much bokeh in it in my life and seeing the result of that much in it was like seeing a kid in the twinkie factory.

I’m eager to get some good head shots in with some bokeh. Being at the Christmas market this past Friday was the perfect chance. Seeing that there is a mass load of festive lights up, why not? Of course I made my husband the guinea pig. They were all candid of course. Taking pictures of him that aren’t candid always turn out horrible. The picture is good but his expressions always leave the viewers wondering if he is pain, angry, or just hates life.

Alas, here are my two favorite photos of the mister from that night.

© Chasiti Moore

Bokeh: pronounced – Bo is like Bo in ‘Bob’ and Ke is like Ke in ‘kennel’.

I have always pronounced it Bo as in boat and ku as in cup. And have read several other ways to pronounce it so who really knows!

The term comes from the Japanese word boke (暈け or ボケ), which means “blur” or “haze”, or boke-aji (ボケ味), the “blur quality”. The Japanese term boke is also used in the sense of a mental haze or senility.

s1/200   ƒ5.6   ISO 400

s1/200   ƒ5.6   ISO 400

s1/100   ƒ3.9   ISO 400

“I need a silent night, a holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night”
~Amy Grant, “I Need A Silent Night”

I have been experimenting with desaturation and vibrance when processing my RAW files.  After several attempts, I found the effect I was looking for with this image.

Hi all. Well I’ve decided to participate in National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) once again for December which means I intend to update this blog on a daily basis just as I did last month. Also, Albina has invited me to join this group December Views where dozens of photographers will be posting images to their blogs throughout the month. It’s going to be a busy month, betweeen taking photographs, creating my own website, blogging on a daily basis and going holiday shopping. Wish me luck!

Oh, and the photograph? One of my favorite wildflowers, snowdrops.

12.01.09 #1

People always say aperture f/1.4 most suitable for portrait shooting so this time I try to shoot something different where I walked around Cameron Highland with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 attached to my camera and capture most of the photo (none portrait) with wide open aperture at f/1.4.

Here are some of photo captured during my trip:

More photo please go Here.

~ all photo are capture by Nikon D700n and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 ~

Portraits are one of the main reasons photography is so popular – and the reason families keep album after album of embarrassing photos. They are one of the hardest kinds of photography to master, but there are a few things you can do to improve your portraits.

Probably first thing you can do is to choose your locations and backgrounds more carefully.

A background that compliments or contrasts your subject or mood will work best. Be sure that it has some kind of relationship to your image so the shot holds together well. This could be color, shape, or even something the subject is touching.

Everyone shoots their friends standing in front of the palaces in Seoul, but how often do people find a quiet corner, pose against a wall and use those long sweeping rooves and lines of the palace walls to draw the attention directly to their subject?

As this is a portrait of a person, another thing to try is to isolate your subject. Find a way to make them the only focus. There are a few ways to do this. Have them wear a blue shirt in a field of orange flowers, for example, or use a large aperture to blur out the background, or simplify the background until the details of the image are held only on the subject.

Choice of equipment is also really important when shooting a portrait. Unless your goal is to distort facial features, be very careful with wide angle lenses (or the wide end of your point and shoot camera). These focal lengths tend to make objects that are closer to the lens appear larger than those distant, thus distorting your poor subject disproportionately, which I can assure you, most do not appreciate.

So unless distortion is your goal, longer lenses are the key here.

One of the best things you can do while taking portraits is to make sure the subject isn’t bored. Don’t spend a lot of time changing lenses, checking your settings, or looking bewildered; this is where it can go wrong. Start shooting and if things aren’t working out, don’t stop – change things as you go. Just keep the momentum going; change it up!

Shooting with the frame vertical? Change to horizontal. Subjects’ hands are on their hips? Have them hold something, place a hand on a wall, create some interaction with your scene.

Finally, and most importantly from a technical standpoint, is light. Always be on the lookout for nice light. This could be warm evening light, or a patch of shade on a bright sunny day – try to avoid direct sunlight if you can. It makes people squint and causes dark shadows. Move into the shade, or better yet, read up on strobist techniques and make the light your own.

It is always a daunting task to approach someone and take their portrait, but being forearmed with a bit of knowledge will give you a little extra confidence.

Check out how some of the best expat photographers in Korea do it at the Seoul Photo Club on Flickr.

by Dylan Goldby, SPC resident portrait specialist

This photo of dried hydrangea wraps up the series I began on Nov. 15th called “Photos that look like paintings”. And I have completed one post a day in November for National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). Congratulations to my fellow bloggers who participated this month!
A lot has happened since I started this little blog a month & a half ago: I’ve decided to create a website for my photography and am seriously considering having SmugMug host my images. I’ll be offering prints with many sizes & options to choose from. The next several weeks are going to be busy as I’ll be working on the web design, planning for the holidays and updating this blog as frequently as possible. Oh, and I may try and take a few photos here and there too.

11.30.09 #30

Hello everyone! I  know it’s been a while since I’ve posted – don’t get upset. Waiting below is your fix.

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This is my cousin Adam. (He is wearing my jacket)

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This is my other cousin Seth. The picture pretty much depicts him in his element. He’s a woodsman. =) The background in the photo below seems so magical and the lighting on his face is so perfect… I love this photo! Hope you do to

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This is my other-other cousin Jonathan.

The two photos below were both experiments with my new flash (LumoPro LP120).

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Aanndd… the best for last. My favorite.

It seems that it should be a Hollister Advertisement does it not?

A thanks goes out to all of my cousins who endured such hardship under the rule of my iron lens. May their patience pay off one of these days.

Tidoum ! J’avais du mal à y croire au début, mais l’ennui rends productif. J’ai créé un album “50 mm” objectif que je découvre, et que je vais recevoir bientôt (si tout se passe bien).
Alors voilà ce que ça donne quand je m’ennuie au kot :

C’était un peu à la McGyver, c’est-à-dire que j’ai chipoté avec un verre, des feuilles blanche et ma lampe de chevet. Pour ça d’ailleurs que c’est en noir&blanc, j’ai pas trop géré (sans pied ù_ù)

Et puis parfois ça a du bon de ranger son ordi, on tombe sur des choses oubliées. Dire que je suis passée à côté. Haha, je vais encore dire la même chose, mais de nouveau c’est un début (j’me disais que le bokeh c’était juste faire une photo floue pour faire des boules, mais c’est plus complexe que ça )

Et on finit par un petit coucher de soleil made in Blicquy, pris ce weekend à la va-vite, parce que mine de rien, il file rapidement.

Through 50mm f/1.8.

Serie Cerro San Cristobal con Session 13, lejos el bokeh mas mareador que he logrado con el 50mm f/1.8, no sabia como editar la imagen para sacarle partido, asi que despues de muchos prueba y ensayo quedo como esta.

Summer Bouquet
 
Another photo of Butterfly Milkweed. I shot this wide open, very late in the afternoon on a sunny day a few weeks past the Summer Solstice. The result … surreal colors & an unearthly bokeh.

Also, yesterday I mentioned that I’m considering designing a website for my photography. I’d offer prints for sale in various sizes with a choice of different types of photographic paper. I’m excited about the prospect and will tell you a bit more about it in tomorrow’s post.

11.29.09 #29

© Chasiti Moore

Taken at a local cafe’ downtown in Ansbach, Germany during the holiday season.

Previous/Related Posts:

• Das Bokeh Boot
• Holiday Happenings

Weekly Winners for November 22 – 28, 2009.

Photos taken with a Canon Rebel XTi.

Morning Light Melts the Frost

Frosted Edges

Won’t be Long till it’s Full

 First Bokeh of the Season

Can’t Get Enough of It

Shining Brightly at the Top

Weekly Winners is hosted every week by Lotus.  Stop by her site to see all this week’s entries.

Check out these photos and more on my flickr photostream.

]]> http://amatterofhowyouseeit.com/2009/11/28/photos-that-look-like-paintings-11-28-09/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:01:01 +0000 Kala http://amatterofhowyouseeit.com/2009/11/28/photos-that-look-like-paintings-11-28-09/

The title of this image is Flowers for Mr. Poe. I think Edgar would have liked this photograph. And I want to mention that I am contemplating designing a website for my photography. Whatcha think?

11.28.09 #28